Seeing Patterns

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -- Romans 12:2 NIV

I've come to a conclusion. God is a very detail oriented being. He likes patterns, order. He's more organized than anyone at Staples ever could be. I think God's will for us is ultimately order, but we have to go through chaos to get to it.

Think about it. It is very difficult to ever do something flawlessly without multiple failed attempts. Even our bodies have to learn. We teach our bodies how to walk by failing. We teach ourselves to swing a golf club (though with varying amounts of skill!) by doing it over and over and over. It's called muscle memory.

Our brains are no different. We learn by doing...and failing. There is a process involved, a pattern for us to follow to develop success at anything we're doing. We learn, which is to say we renew our minds. If we must fail to learn then doesn't it also follow that to find God's good, pleasing, perfect will for us requires us to learn how to look for it, and therefore, that we must try and fail?

The pattern of the world tells us who we are and that we need to just stay put. God tells us who we really are and that the way to realizing what He wants for us is to look! It's like a spiritual game of hide and go seek where the best place to hide is right in plain sight. We look at the patterns of the world and there is no chance we find God. But we renew our mind and actively seek Him and there is no way to miss him.